This article contains spoilers for Black Widow.
Black Widow brought the MCU back to movie theaters and people back to their seats, but the movie’s villains were the topic of some controversy for many, to the point where Black Widow’s writer directly had to address Taskmaster and the decisions surrounding the character.
While having General Dreykov’s daughter Antonia (Olga Kurylenko) take the spot of a gender-swapped Tony Masters, in reality, it’s the movie’s failure to honor the character’s origins in Marvel Comics that drew the ire of some fans. Still, despite the changes made so that Taskmaster would fit in better into Natasha Romanoff's story, the elite assassin kept her signature ability to mimic moves from the rest of Marvel’s finest making for some Black Widow’s best moments the few times she gets some screen time. In light of that, here’s a quick breakdown of how Black Widow’s Taskmaster uses the Avengers' skill to deliver some hard-hitting easter eggs.
Black Widow
Though it’s actually her second appearance on screen, Taskmaster introduces herself to Natasha by blowing up her discrete Lada to retrieve the coveted red mind control antidote Dreykov desperately needs. It’s here where her prolific fighting skills are showcased including Natasha’s own agile grappling takedowns and landing just as gracefully with the same pose Scarlett Johansson made so iconic.
Yelena Belova might have plenty of style points that give her the right to call Natasha’s landings a bit cringe and over the top, but as far as first impressions go this is pretty hard to beat, especially for Yelena if she's to assume the Black Widow identity.
Hawkeye
Of course, before being deployed on her mission Taskmaster was back in the Red Room getting a ton of valuable combat intel uploaded to the chipset that controls her high-tech suit, all courtesy of a fight between Natasha’s friend Hawkeye and Black Panther.
While it sort of demystifies the character from early on, that brief recap is enough for Taskmaster to gain perfect marksmanship that comes in quite handy when chasing down after Natasha and Yelena across the very streets of Budapest where she lost her free will, thus finally putting an end to a fantastic car chase scene.
Black Panther
Although Taskmaster’s fighting style in her first encounter takes a lot from Natasha’s, her swift movement and powerful kicks also seem to draw some inspiration from King T’Challa himself. As if those mid-air spins weren’t enough, when the Red Guardian assumes his bear-like stance once he’s off to face Taskmaster, she channels her best Black Panther impression to deliver a “Wakanda Forever” pose as she unsheathes her claws.
Oddly enough, since Black Widow takes places after Captain America: Civil War and Chadwick Boseman’s iconic "Wakanda Forever!" didn’t come until Infinity War, this isn’t technically accurate but it sure looks cool and is a great way to reference the late actor.
Spider-Man
Considering Taskmaster’s biggest appearances beyond the comic book realms had been in video games like Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 or most recently the PlayStation’s Marvel’s Spider-Man, it seems quite fitting Black Widow would nod at Peter Parker too. Again it’s poor old Alexei Shostakov who finds himself on the receiving end of an agile two-legged jump kick to the chest that sends him flying like any other thug facing Spider-Man, even if Far From Home raises the stakes for Peter.
The Winter Soldier
It’s probably fair to say Black Widow’s creative team was looking to recreate some Captain America: The Winter Soldier vibes, not only due to that film’s focus on espionage, civil liberties, and free will but also because of the existing parallels between Antonia and Bucky as brainwashed soldiers from an enemy nation during the cold war. Further adding to that is the fact that both the Winter Soldier and this Taskmaster’s story are directly tied to the lead character.
The way Taskmaster carries herself, her walk as she approaches her targets, her weapons mastery, and her heartless menacing behavior are all quite reminiscent of the Winter Soldier when fans first saw him. As a bonus, Taskmaster is just as handy with a knife as Bucky, who can still be seen doing blade-flipping tricks in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
Captain America
Regardless of Taskmaster not having a real bouncing Captain America shield, it’s clear Antonia spent a lot of time in the Red Room watching a ton of Steve Rogers footage as part of her training to become an assassin. Black Widow doesn’t really tell fans if Taskmaster took some kind of super soldier juice or whether her smaller shield is made out of vibranium, both of which seem unlikely given the difficulties even the US government has sourcing those materials according to Contessa Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine.
However, Taskmaster’s shield is definitely no overnight garage DIY project like John Walker’s so it’s no surprise this is Taskmaster’s weapon of choice which she can use to toss, protect herself, and strike down opponents just like Cap would. Naturally, the Red Guardian again has to be the guinea pig for Taskmaster to show her skills and the best moment comes when she foot stomps it back into her hands just like Captain America does.